Heat Pump Training - Tuesday, August 24, 2010, at 5:00-8:00 P.M.  and pizza will be served too; Held at the Applied Technology Center in Room 234 in Grand Rapids MI!  Take this opportunity to utilize today’s technologies and use them every day!  Join the select group of HVAC technicians who have attended and are now providing professional heat pump service, thus, providing a reliable heating system that performs. 

Topic covered in this seminar are: • Economics,   • Feasibility, • Application, • Installation/Service/Troubleshooting, • Airflow and Duct Design!  Don't delay sign up today!  Registration Form.

 

Here is our membership brochure  for technicians, contractors, suppliers, and schools; and it is a self-mailer.  Here you will find a summery of benefits and our affinity partners at all three levels of our federation (two sided, three fold).  For more details go to our benefits for members tab, miacca.org (state level) or acca.org (national level). 

 

URGENT ALERT:

Please Call Senators Today!

 

Dear Members

On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is scheduled to release a stripped-down energy bill that will include the $6 billion Home Star retrofit rebate program.

This is your only chance to help change the Home Star language so that it HELPS small business, and doesn't hurt our industry.

The Home Star Coalition is backed by big money and big business, who have poured dollars into Washington and national P.R. over the last few months to get their favored language passed.

The corporate backers of this legislation have so far refused to act on the concerns of community-based contractors and have successfully portrayed this in the media as a "small business bill" when in fact two key provisions seem designed to drive small HVACR contractors out of the energy efficiency industry altogether.

It's not too late to change this but only if you help us.

 

Unfortunately, an email alone won't work. We need you to make a few phone calls -- TODAY.

Please call Senator Harry Reid's office today at 202-224-3542. Tell him:

• Home Star would be a great idea but only if two provisions change from S. 3434.
• First, the rebates should be directed to the HOMEOWNER as "cash back", not floated as a loan by contractors.
• Second, contractors should be able to participate in the "Gold Star" program if they use independent, third-party raters to verify energy efficiency improvements. Contractors should NOT be required to purchase an unnecessary "accreditation" from BPI or any other organization.
• Without both of those changes, Home Star may very well hurt small business, not help it.

After calling Senator Reid's office, please call both of your own Senators today. You can reach them through the main Capitol Hill Switchboard at 202 224-3121. You will need to ask for each Senator's office by name. Please tell them the same things listed above.

 

This WILL make a difference, but only if all of our members act now. Please make these phone calls today. If you could email me at charlie.mccrudden@acca.org after you place the calls and let me know how it went, that would be really appreciated.   But either way, please make the calls. Today. Thank you!

Regards,

Charlie McCrudden

 

For Immediate Release
June 25, 2010
Media Contact: Kevin Holland
kevin.holland@acca.org
703-575-4477

ACCA to Senate:
Fix the "Home Star" Bill So Contractors Can Fix America's Homes!

The Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA), the nation's largest association of professional environmental systems contractors, has communicated its concern to the U.S. Senate about home retrofit rebate legislation they are considering, popularly known as "Home Star."

A version of Home Star passed the U.S. House in May, and that legislation addressed some, but not all, of ACCA's issues. The companion Senate legislation has been stalled, its future uncertain; despite this, ACCA has been meeting with officials and staffers on Capitol Hill, expressing its concerns with the ability of the legislation as written to actually create sustainable jobs and improve energy efficiency.

"We are certainly supportive of the goals of this legislation, to make American homes more energy efficient, and provide much-needed jobs in the construction industry," said John Sedine, ACCA Chairman and president of Engineered Heating & Cooling in Michigan, as the association publicly released the text of a letter sent today to the chairmen and ranking members of the Senate Finance Committee and Energy & Natural Resources Committee. "Unfortunately, certain provisions in this legislation make the achievement of these goals actually less likely."

Specifically, the association is concerned about the structure of the rebate program in the Senate bill, which would require contractors to discount bills upfront and wait to receive payment from a rebate aggregator. "Requiring contractors to become bankers means that many small businesses -- the small business that are the driving force of our fragile economic growth! -- will not be able to participate in this program at all, even though they may be very well qualified to do so, simply because they can't afford to take the financial risk," Sedine says.

In the House version of Home Star, a last-minute amendment attempted to address ACCA's concern on this issue, requiring rebates be sent to the homeowners after sale. However, the Senate legislation, as written, would still require contractors to float loans on their customers' behalf.

ACCA is also concerned that one section of the legislation, known as "Gold Star," will turn what should be a "quick-hit" bill promoting jobs and energy efficiency for the entire country, into a jobs bill for just a few states. This part of the legislation offers larger rebates for work that enhances a home's entire energy performance, but requires that work be done by businesses "accredited" by a group called the Building Performance Institute (BPI).

In the association's letter to Senators Jeff Bingaman, Max Baucus, Lisa Murkowski, and Charles Grassley, ACCA President & CEO Paul Stalknecht wrote, "ACCA is concerned that the accreditation requirement will limit the choice for homeowners who may want to take advantage of the Gold Star rebates that are determined by whole home energy improvements. Currently, 29 states do not have a single contractor who could offer homeowners a pathway to Gold Star rebates. At the same time, New York and New Jersey, where more than 86% of all BPI accredited contractors are located, could absorb the bulk of rebate funds in the first year alone."

He continued, "Aside from the accreditation requirement, Gold Star rebates only require a contractor to determine the simulated energy consumption of the home before and after the energy saving retrofit. Many professional contractors who may not be accredited by BPI could otherwise meet the obligations under the Gold Star rebate program to use the approved modeling software, install the eligible energy saving measures properly, and provide the homeowner with documentation of the overall energy savings."
The full text of ACCA's letter to the Senate can be read online here.

(Letter to the Senate on Home Star)

For more than 40 years, the Air Conditioning Contractors of America has served the educational, policy and technical interests of the small businesses that design, install, and maintain indoor environmental systems. ACCA is a non-profit organization with members in all 50 states and throughout the world. Learn more at www.acca.org.

February 16, 2010 Training, we held a 3-Hour Combustion Analysis and Carbon Monoxide Safety Training class at Williams Distributing in Grand Rapids, MI and the room was more than filled to capacity. We would like to thank our trainers, Richard Bruno of Bacharach (phone number 646-416-3842) and Garry Lee VanDenBerg of H.S. Buy Van Associates (616-446-9068) for the great technical information. Another thank you goes out to Roger Mullennix and Williams Distributing, for providing the training room, pizza and soda for all the attendees.